Farmers’ profiles and behaviours toward desalinated seawater for irrigation: Insights from South-east Spain
In South-east Spain the implementation of desalinated seawater for irrigation was planned as an alternative water supply for farmers. However, most high-volume desalination plants are underused as farmers’ current demands are lower than was previously expected. In order to develop programmes prom...
| Autori principali: | , , , |
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| Natura: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Lingua: | English |
| Pubblicazione: |
Elsevier
2023
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| Soggetti: | |
| Accesso online: | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/14890 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126568 |
| Riassunto: | In South-east Spain the implementation of desalinated seawater for irrigation was planned as an alternative
water supply for farmers. However, most high-volume desalination plants are underused as
farmers’ current demands are lower than was previously expected. In order to develop programmes
promoting an effective behavioural shift of farmers toward desalinated water, it is necessary to first
explore their preferences and attitudes. This paper shows the results of a survey examining the attitudes
and behaviour of farmers toward the use of desalinated seawater for irrigation in the South-east of Spain.
The results show the existence of different farmer typologies regarding desalinated seawater use, as well
as their preferences and attitudes. The main finding of this study has been to identify further factors,
besides price, that condition the acceptance of the use of desalinated seawater. Finally, a series of
measures are proposed to encourage the use of desalinated seawater for irrigation based on the identified
profiles. The insights gained from this study could be useful for other regions where the construction
of desalination plants has been planned as a measure to increase the availability of irrigation
water. |
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